Microbial Fuel Cells: From biomass (waste) to electricity

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology could provide opportunities for electricity generation from the organic matter. Indeed a MFC can produce electric energy by converting a part of the chemical energy contained in biodegradable substrates through the metabolic activity of bacteria. This could be both economically and environmentally effective when the organic matter does not have any intrinsic value as in the case of domestic or industrial waste waters. This paper presents the principle and current development in the domain of MFC and gives an idea of potential future applications.